Does 'slime' pay (and will it rule) in NYC politics?

Wednesday

Jul 17, 2013 at 7:42 PM

SLIME Pays!" ran the headline in The New York Daily News this week while the New York Post wrote "Weiner, Spitzer Both Leading in New Poll."

What's really going on in the minds of New York Democrats who are going to be electing a new mayor and comptroller — two of the highest offices this city offers? (And Weiner/Spitzer have come a'cropper over past sex plays that leave both men forever to be held up as moral offenders.)

I don't know these men except to nod at Spitzer in restaurants, but both have exemplary wives. This, alone, goes a long way despite tabloid headlines that have these guys flexing perv muscle, to quote the Daily News. In fact, yesterday the tabloids claimed it was the wives we have to blame for thrusting both men back into the public's eyes like a cinder. (I guess this means New York women are more apt to forgive their erring spouses.)

So "you" won't/wouldn't/couldn't vote for either of them, eh? Well, why are your fellow Democrats making them the leaders in this important contest?

Here's my tiny take on it. That benevolent and brilliant fellow Michael Bloomberg has to take his paternalistic ball and bat and go home and leave us bereft of his money, power and executive skills. There is no help for that. And New Yorkers, even the ones who disliked his "nanny" ways, feel desperate.

Most busy New Yorkers haven't a clue about the existing candidates. They're too busy surviving the vicissitudes of the city in summer. So at the very least, they've "heard" of Weiner and Spitzer. Both wives have apparently stood by them. And whatever else we know about them — the two men are ruthlessly self-centered and — one of them, Spitzer, is really smart! In fact, both may know something about public service and leadership, although his detractors argue that Weiner is just a self-serving wannabe and was no loss to the Democrats in Congress when he collided with the Internet.

Anyway, a public that forgave John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and countless others, feels desperately inclined to vote for the devils they know, instead of for the ones they don't. Familiarity may breed contempt but there is a certain surety in having a super-sexed guy at the helm where you can be sure whatever passes for the press will, in the future, keep close tabs on his private behavior.

It's not that people are so into "forgiveness," but many souls do live by morally disapproving Old Testament-type strictures, whether they know it or not. But these days, the average New Yorker is leading such a hectic life that they haven't got time to study what's good and what's bad about public figures. So they go the New Testament route of forgiving and ignoring and hoping for the best.